The present invention relates to an integrated receiver/mixer system for the remote control of wireless receivers by the mixer reference and control signals which are cable connected to the wireless receivers. The inputted signals are combined in the receivers with the wireless audio and returned to the mixer with receiver status information. The control signals and information to and from the receiver and the mixer are transmitted therebetween with a minimum of cabling, and digitally presented and processed, with the mixer and receivers being continually maintained in synchronism.
During motion picture or television filming, wireless microphones are conventionally concealed inside the clothing, or hair, of the performer during filming. Audio intelligence is then advantageously digitally encoded onto a carrier wave and wireless transmitted to a receiver. One or more receivers may be provided for receiving the signal from each performer, depending upon such factors as the locale of the area and degree of movement of the performer during the particular sequence being filmed. Each performer""s microphone signal is wirelessly transmitted to receiver(s) which will be tuned to its carrier frequency. The receivers, which operate in conjunction with the several performer""s wireless microphone transmission, are then connected to a mixer, where the individual audio signals of each performer are appropriately analyzed and intermixed to provide the desired composite audio output. Various reference and control signals must be provided between the mixer and receivers including signals to insure appropriate synchronization therebetween. Further, in many instances receivers may be located several hundred feet away from the mixer, thereby necessitating numerous lengthy cable runs. This has oftentimes necessitated cumbersome and costly system setups.
The present invention provides an integrated receiver/mixer system for the processing and transmission of the digitally encoded information received from the wireless microphone transmitters in which, among other advantages, the wireless system is remotely controlled from the mixer. The receiver, in addition to inputting the digitally encoded wireless intelligence signal from the microphone transmitter, receives and processes digitally encoded control and reference signals from the mixer for establishing the receiver parameters and synchronizing the receiver to the mixer, as by establishing such parameters as the sample rate, and the receiver frequency.
As a further advantage, which substantially minimizes the system cabling, a second receiver, which is to be tuned to a different frequency designated to operate in conjunction with the microphone transmitter of a second performer, is cable connected to a first receiver which is to be tuned to a first performer""s frequency. The first receiver is cable connected to the mixer output and receives the reference and control signals for both receivers. The first receiver will appropriately process the reference and control signals intended for it, while passing on the reference and control signals to the second receiver, together with its own audio and status information. The second receiver will in turn respond to its reference and control signals being transmitted to it from the mixer, but via the first receiver, and provide an output signal, to the mixer input, which will include the audio and status information of both receivers. The mixer may preferably include a status screen for displaying the information from both receivers. Thus, the remotely located mixer controls both receivers with there being a minimum of cable runs between the mixer and the receivers.
Advantageously, additional receiver sets can be included within the system for processing the digitally encoded wireless transmission of additional performers, with such receivers similarly receiving reference and control signals from the same mixer, and a single cable from the mixer providing the reference and control signals to two such receivers, and a single cable back from the other one of such additional receivers providing the audio and status information back to another input terminal of the mixer. The status screen at the mixer will accordingly display the receiver status information of such plurality of receivers which are controlled by the single mixer, with minimal cabling, in accordance with the novel system approach of the present invention.
In accordance with preferred features of the present system, the cable connections are coaxial cables, and the digital audio signal is an AES/EBU formatted signal, with the signal from the mixer to the receivers establishing a digital sample rate in synchronism with the mixer.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an integrated receiver/mixer system for the processing and transmission of digitally encoded information in which the mixer remotely controls the wireless system and obtains audio and status data therefrom.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such an integrated receiver/mixer system which includes a minimum number of cable runs between the mixer and the receivers.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide such an integrated receiver/mixer system in which digitally encoded reference and control signals are sequentially applied to two interconnected receivers operating at different frequencies, with the audio and status information of both receivers being returned to the mixer on a single coaxial cable.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide such a system in which the digital audio signal may be an AES/EBU formatted signal.